Nick's survival
by AlecGman
Summary: What Season 2 episodes 4 and 5 would be like if Nick survived, in my opinion.
1. The escape

Nick and Luke covered themselves with walker guts outside of Howe's hardware store as they were surrounded by the walkers.

"I'm not sure I can handle this." Nick whimpered.

"Hey, if Clementine can handle it, then you can." Luke argued.

Nick saw that the horde was moving in closer and before they could make their escape, he heard a voice behind the group.

"What the hell is going on out here?!"

Troy had followed them outside the gate and he pointed his Ak-47 at the Luke as he tried to pick up another assault rifle.

"Don't even think about it, motherfucker. I will end you, you hear me?!"

Jane, knowing that she had to stop Troy, hid a pistol behind her leg as she began to move towards him.

"Troy, we talked about this. If you helped me get out, I would help you."

"I thought you meant get out of the pen, not whatever the fuck this shit is."

"I know, but now we can leave. Troy, you can come with us."

Troy paused and lowered his rifle. "Well, where would we go?"

"Away from here, together."

Troy chuckled. "You smell really bad, you might have to get a bath before we-"

Troy wasn't able to finish his sentence as Jane moved the rifle away and shot him in the crotch area. Troy screamed in pain as the walkers began to close in on him. Nick heard Jane mention something about walking, but that was about it. As the walkers chewed Troy into pieces, Nick and Luke walked next to Carlos, Sarah, and Clementine as they attempted to pass through the hoard. Nick could hear Carlos trying to calm Sarah down, but it proved to be futile as Carlos had been shot in the neck. The walkers around Carlos took this opportunity and started eating Carlos alive. Nick heard Sarah screaming and Clementine telling her to get ahold of herself. Nick saw that Sarah had run off and alerted Luke of it.

"Nick, come on! I'm going after Sarah!" Luke yelled as Nick was directly behind him.

Luke and Nick ran after Sarah, but Nick was accidentally shot in the shoulder by a Howe's hardware guard. Luke heard Nick yell in pain, but that wasn't his main concern. Sarah was running faster than Nick had ever seen her run as she ran towards a trailer park. She ran inside a trailer and closed the door. Nick and Luke were close behind her as Luke busted the door open and made sure to block it, with Nick's help.

"Hey, Nick, are you okay?" Luke said as he looked at Nick's injury.

"I'll be fine, just check on Sarah." Nick winced as he held his shoulder.

As Luke looked in the back of the trailer to find Sarah, Nick began to look around for something he could use to help fix his injury. Nick gave up after a few minutes of searching as the trailer was empty. He walked into the backroom to see Luke trying to comfort Sarah, but she ended up screaming and yelling at Luke. Luke looked at Nick out of fear as the walkers began to pound on the trailer door.

"Come on, Luke, we have to do something!" Nick yelled over Sarah's screaming.

"What can we do? We have walkers all around us and Sarah's just attracting them towards us."

Luke sighed in regret. "We might have to leave her."

"What?! We're not leaving her!" Nick yelled.

"Can you think of a better idea?"

"Yeah, we get her to Parker's run and meet up with everyone else."

Luke sighed as he held his hands on his eyes in frustration. The door of the trailer began to slowly push open as the walkers were beginning to overpower the door. Nick looked around for some kind of escape and saw a ceiling window.

"Luke! Up there!" Nick yelled as he pointed at the window.

Luke pulled out his machete and tried to break the window, but he couldn't reach it. He found a stool and stood on it in order to break the window.

"Alright Nick, you're the first one up"

Nick climbed onto Luke's hands, but Luke collapsed in pain.

"No, you first." Nick joked.

Luke chuckled as Nick assisted him to the ceiling. Nick looked at Sarah and then back at Luke. _Goddammit._ Nick grabbed Sarah and carried her up to Luke, who placed her next to the window. Luke reached his hand down to Nick and Nick made it out of the trailer before the walkers made it to him. Nick and Luke were gasping simultaneously as they almost lost their lives in a trailer. Nick picked Sarah up and looked in the direction of Parker's run.

"Come on, Luke, let's go."

As Luke and Nick walked back to Parker's run, Luke looked at the bullet hole in Nick's shoulder and gave him a concerned look.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine, it hurts like hell, but I don't care at this point."

Luke noticed the Parker's run sign and saw that Bonnie, Mike, and Kenny were waiting for them.

"We did it, Nick!" Luke cheered as he pat Nick on the back.

Nick let go of Sarah out of pain and she gave a sharp gasp as she fell to the ground. Mike and Bonnie noticed them and began to run towards them. Kenny didn't seem to move, instead he just looked at the ground.

"Mike, Bonnie, it's nice to see you guys again." Luke exclaimed.

"Same." Mike said as looked down at Sarah. "Here, I'll carry her."

"Thanks, Mike."

"Don't mention it."  
Mike carried Sarah back to Parker's run with the rest of the group following him. He set her down next to another pathway as she just crossed her legs and rocked back and forth. Mike sighed. _Poor kid._ Nick looked at Kenny to see him holding a handgun and just move it back and forth as if he were anxious. Nick walked over to Kenny and patted his shoulder, but Kenny pointed the handgun at him.

"Get the fuck away from me, boy!" Kenny yelled as Nick walked back slowly.

The group looked on as they weren't expecting that from Kenny.

"Now, leave me the hell alone." Kenny said as he sat back down, continuing to move the handgun back and forth.

Bonnie noticed Nick's injury and gestured for him to come over to her.

"It's okay Nick, I have medical supplies, I'll be able to fix you up."

"Thanks Bonnie." Nick said with a sigh.

Luke saw a couple figures emerge from a forest and aimed the rifle at them, but quickly found out that it was Rebecca, Clementine, and Jane as they raised their hands.

"It's just us, Luke!" Clem yelled from a distance.

"Sorry!"

The small group walked into Parker's run and Luke stopped Clementine in her tracks.

"Listen Clem, Kenny's not really in the right state of mind. We were hoping you could talk some sense into him."

"Okay, I'll try."


	2. The mysterious stranger

Nick and the rest of the group watched Clementine's futile attempts to convince Kenny to get over Sarita's supposed death. Clementine walked back over to the group, showing sadness over what she had to do to Sarita. The group noticed Kenny retreat into a tent to be by himself.

"Hey Clem." Nick said softly.

Clementine looked at Nick with sad eyes instead of the glare that she gave him back at the cabin.

"You did the best you could." Nick said with a smile.

Clementine gave a faint smile to Nick as Bonnie finished stitching Nick's wound. Nick groaned in pain as he moved his shoulder.

"Thanks again, Bonnie."

"You're welcome."

Clem knew that she had to get Kenny back as he had to help Rebecca with the labor problems. After a few minutes, Clem emerged from the tent with Kenny in tow.

"Kenny, are you okay?" Luke asked.

"I'm fine, I heard that Rebecca's going into labor."

"Yeah, we don't know how to give birth to a baby."

"Well first off, you need fresh water and warm blankets."

"Alright everyone, I'm going to give you your jobs. Mike, Bonnie, you guys are going down to the museum. Jane, you check out the observation deck and I'll patrol the perimeter for walkers."

"What about me?" Nick said as he raised his hand.

"You rest, Nick."

"Ah come on, Luke. I really want to help, I don't want to sit around."

Luke sighed. "Okay, then you can help Jane with the observation deck."

"Sounds good."

"Alright everyone, get going." Luke said as he began his patrol.

Bonnie walked up to Clementine and told her about helping her scavenge down at the museum with Mike or helping Jane with an observation deck. Clementine decided to go with Bonnie and Mike to museum and they disappeared out of sight. Kenny walked over to Rebecca to comfort her. Nick followed Jane to the observation deck and they didn't exchange so much as a look to each other as they walked to the observation deck. Jane, trying to fix the awkward silence, spoke to Nick as they walked towards the deck.

"So, what' s your name?"

"You already know."

"No I don't, that's why I asked."

Nick sighed. "It's Nick."

"I already knew that."

Nick shook his head as Jane chuckled. Nick walked up the creaky steps of the observation deck with Jane close behind him. Nick noticed the two shutter doors and tried to peer in through the windows, but they were blocked. Nick walked to the closest one and tried to open it, but it was locked. Nick sighed as he walked over to the next shutter door and pulled it open. It just revealed another set of stairs that led up to the deck. Nick couldn't see anything besides a billboard and groaned in frustration. He looked over at Jane who was beginning to pick a lock with what appeared to be a nail file. Nick looked at it with confusion and Jane looked back at him.

"Versatility is not overrated." Jane joked as she continued to pick the lock.

Nick shook his head in confusion, but saw a figure out of the corner of his eye. He saw that it was a younger man wearing a leg brace and carrying a bag.

"Hey, someone's coming." Nick whispered.

"Shit, quick, find a place to hide." Jane whispered back.

The man began to step up the stairs and Nick hid behind a staged cannon at the last second. The man walked across the deck and over to a garbage can as he tried to shove the bag into it. Nick tried to stay down, but the man felt his presence as he turned around with a revolver pointed right at Nick's head. Nick slowly raised up from his hiding place, but the confidence that he had gotten from the trailer park suddenly disappeared as he didn't know what to do. The man looked confused as he saw that Nick was terrified. Before the man could react, Jane grabbed his revolver from behind him and pointed it at him.

"Who are you?" Jane demanded.

"I…I'm Arvo." The man stuttered.

"Drop the bag." Jane ordered.

The man hesitated, and dropped the bag.

"Nick, come check out the bag."

Nick shook himself out of his dais as he walked over to the bag and opened it. He was shocked to see that there was medicine in it. He grabbed a bottle of pills and Jane was surprised by it as well. Arvo begged as Jane continued to hold him at gunpoint. _Rebecca needs these pills, I'm sure Kenny needs them too._

"Sorry Arvo, we need this medicine."

"No, please, that medicine is for my sick sister!" Arvo exclaimed.

Jane cocked the gun and Arvo took that as a sign to leave. He cursed in Russian as he walked away.

"Good call, Nick. Let's get this medicine back to the group."

Nick knew that he had just stolen medicine from someone who probably needed it. Arvo had already disappeared into the woods, so Nick couldn't give it back to him. _What the fuck did I just do? I'm not a fucking thief. If I see him again, I'll give him what's left._ Nick placed the medicine in his pocket as he made his way towards the stairs of the deck. He looked back to see Jane continuing to work on the lock.

"You want to come back?"

"No, I need to pick this lock, thanks for the help."

"No problem." Nick said with a hint of regret.

Jane noticed the change in his voice, but didn't ask him about it. Nick walked down the stairs and back towards Parker's run, when he saw Luke coming towards him.

"Whoah, are you okay, Nick?"

"No, I just stole fucking medicine from a poor fucking kid." Nick said as he had to relieve the short experience.

"It's okay, Nick. You did what you thought was best, don't let that take you down."

Nick regained his composure as he walked back to Parker's run to see that Rebecca was going even further into labor then when he last saw her. Nick walked over to Rebecca and patted her on the back. Kenny walked up to Nick and urged him to move away.

"Here, I found this." Nick said, handing the pills to Kenny.

"Where did you get this?"

Nick did what he thought best. "I just found it in the gift shop at the observation deck."

"Wow, good find."

"Thanks old man."

Kenny chuckled as he gave Rebecca one of the pills to help reduce the pain. Nick knew that he couldn't help with the museum as Bonnie, Mike, and Clementine were already on it. Nick looked at Sarah, who was sitting next to Rebecca and Kenny. He walked over to her and tried to give her a hug, but she just flinched and tried to move away. _Please get over this, Sarah, like goddamn._

"Hey Sarah, I know I told you this before, or maybe you weren't listening, but I've lost people too. I lost my mom and my uncle, but I still have you, Luke, and Rebecca. If it weren't for you guys, I would've probably died, but I'm not dead. Please snap out of this, Sarah." Nick said as he felt his eyes well up.

Sarah continued to rock back and forth as she didn't listen to a word Nick had said. Nick sighed in sadness as he sat down on the bench Kenny previously sat on. _Now I just play the waiting game._


	3. An Unfortunate Death

Nick waited a long time and began to fall asleep, until he saw Clementine, Bonnie, and Mike come back. Mike was carrying two large gallons of water that he had found at the museum. Nick smiled as he saw the gallons of water. Before he could even stand up, he heard Sarah mumbling something. He looked over to her and saw the large horde of walkers from Howe's hardware make their way towards them.

"Shit, Walkers!" Bonnie yelled.

"How the hell did they get that close without anyone seeing them? Where the hell's Luke?!" Mike yelled also.

Clementine walked up to Kenny. "Kenny, we've gotta do something!"

Kenny thought for a second before picking up his crowbar and stood up. "You just keep that baby safe." He muttered as he turned around to face the horde. Nick watched as Kenny slowly walked towards the horde in anger. He was oblivious to what everyone else was saying. He felt Clementine moving his arm, which snapped him out of his dais.

"Nick! Help Kenny!"

Nick didn't say anything. Instead, he pulled out a hammer he had acquired from Howe's and walked next to Kenny, helping to stop some of the walkers. Mike carried the water and followed Clementine and Bonnie to the observation deck. Kenny continued to beat the same walker's head in, imagining it to be both Carver and Clementine. Kenny stopped out of exhaustion and Nick tried to pull him back.

"Come on, man, let's go!"

Kenny ran behind Nick as they followed the rest of the group. Kenny and Nick made it up the stairs and onto the deck. Kenny walked into the gift shop where Rebecca was about to give birth. He saw that Luke and Jane were standing next to each other. Kenny stared at them in anger.

"What the fuck is going on in here?!" Kenny yelled.

"Kenny, what's going on?" Luke yelled back.

"Rebecca's having the baby and you're weren't patrolling like you fucking said you would!"

"I'm sorry okay!"

Rebecca yelled in pain as the baby was on its way.

"Oh my god. I'm so sorry Rebecca." Luke said as kneeled down to her.

"Hey, if you want to help, go out there and keep the walkers off of us!" Kenny ordered.

Luke ran out onto the deck without thinking, leaving Nick in the room with Kenny.

"Hey, what can I do?"

"Keep the walkers off of us, don't worry, I've been here before."

Nick nodded as he ran back onto the deck to see everyone, but Clementine, trying to hold a steel gate shut. Nick noticed the cannon and looked at Clementine.

"Clem!"

"What, Nick?"

"Help me push this."

Clem and Nick pushed the cannon towards the door, but in the process, the deck collapsed taking Sarah down with it. Sarah was trapped underneath some rubble, while Jane was hanging on what was left on the deck.

"Jane! Help Sarah!" Clementine ordered.

"She's dead already! Help me up!"

Nick looked down at Sarah and back at Jane with a desperate look. Jane sighed and let go of the deck and fell down to Sarah. Jane tried to pull Sarah out, but she was disoriented by a piece of falling wood. Knowing Sarah didn't have any time left, Jane climbed up the collapsing deck, leaving Sarah to be devoured by the walkers. The walkers that weren't eating Sarah's corpse were trying to follow Jane up the deck. Nick was standing still, frozen in terror.

"We've gotta collapse the deck!" Clementine yelled.

Clementine looked to see the support panel holding the deck in place and signaled for Mike to pick her up. Clementine wacked the panel with a hatchet, which led to the deck falling. Nick almost fell off, but Luke grabbed the collar of his shirt. Nick balanced himself and looked down at the walkers eating Sarah's corpse. He closed his eyes in sadness and turned around to hug Luke. Luke hugged him back as Nick began to cry.

"Don't cry buddy, it wasn't your fault."

"What was the point of saving her? Back at the trailer park, we could've gotten away and she actually would've died for something, but now, it was for fucking nothing."

"Nick, calm down."

Nick stomped into the gift shop to see what the rest of the group was staring at. Nick's anger then turned into even more sadness as he saw that Rebecca's baby appeared to be dead. The baby then sprung to life, with Kenny wrapping it up in a blanket. Kenny hugged the baby in happiness. Nick sighed in relief, but walked back out onto the deck. He sat down with his back facing the building, observing the wilderness.

The day passed by quickly, at least in Nick's case. For the first time since the apocalypse started, Nick took off his hat to feel the cold breeze of the winter wind.

"Nice hair job." Luke said as he sat down next to him.

"Shut up, asshole." Nick said in a joking manner.

Clementine emerged from the other exit to the deck, looking upset. Luke stood up, confused as he walked over to her. Nick didn't care as he had too many things on his mind. After he heard Luke yell and curse, he stood up and walked over to him.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing, it's just, she's gone."

"Who?"

Luke sighed. "Jane."

"What? Like, really gone?"

Luke nodded and Nick kicked the empty garbage can. Kenny came out with Rebecca's baby and walked over to Nick.

"Hey, you need to get yourself together, because we're leaving at dawn."

"What? Dawn?"

"You got a hearing problem, boy? I said dawn."

"No, we should let Rebecca rest for a couple days, at least." Luke pleaded.

"I agree with Luke." Nick said.

Kenny looked at Clementine. "I agree with him too, Kenny."

"GODDAMMIT!"

"Kenny, where's my baby?" Rebecca weakly yelled.

Kenny sighed as he turned around and walked inside the gift shop. "Sorry."

Clementine walked inside the gift shop with Luke and Nick following her. Clementine and Nick walked over to Rebecca.

"You guys want to hold him?"

Clementine nodded for both her and Nick, but Nick wasn't sure about him holding the baby. Rebecca handed Clementine the baby and she smiled as she looked at the small child. She handed the baby to Nick and the baby began to cry. Nick panicked as he didn't know what to do.

"Here, hold him like this." Clementine showed him.

Nick held the baby like Clementine said and rocked it back and forth. The baby's crying ceased as it eventually fell asleep in Nick's arms.

"Here, I'm not good with them." Nick said as he handed the baby back to Rebecca.

"It's okay, you'll get used to him."

Kenny walked up to Nick. "Hey, get some sleep, I'll take first watch."

"Are you sure?"

"Crystal."

Nick sighed as he laid down on the floor. Clementine sat down next to Nick and felt bad for him about Sarah. He could hear Nick crying under his breath and she patted him on the shoulder. Nick felt better, but not much. Nick had to cry himself to sleep and he didn't feel ashamed that he had to.


	4. The ambush

Two days later, the group left the observation deck in hopes of making it to a town on the other side of a river. Bonnie was helping Rebecca walk, but Rebecca, still exhausted from giving birth, collapsed on her knees.

"You all right?" Bonnie asked Rebecca.

"She's exhausted. We all are." Luke said as he glared at Kenny.

Kenny glared back as Bonnie helped Rebecca to her feet.

"It's alright, I can keep going."

Kenny turned around and the rest of the group continued walking.

"We shoulda left right away instead of waiting around. We coulda found more food and been to someplace warm days ago." Kenny complained.

"We did the right thing. She was in no condition to move." Luke argued.

"Yeah, come on man, give her a break." Nick jumped in.

"You shut your goddamn mouth boy."

Nick glared at Kenny as he didn't know what to do, but glare.

"I still say we turn back." Nick suggested.

"That's not an option. Everybody hang in there. We gotta keep moving if we're gonna make to that town before nightfall."

"You don't even listen to anyone else. You just go on barking orders."

"Luke, come on man, it's not worth it." Nick begged Luke.

"Yes it is, this is Rebecca's life we're talking about."

Rebecca collapsed as exhaustion began to overtake her.

"Over here, there's a place to sit." Mike said as he pointed at a tire.

As Rebecca made her way over to the tire, Kenny walked over to her.

"Rebecca, let me have the baby."

Rebecca sat down. "It's all right. I've got him."

"No, you rest for a minute. I'll watch him."

Luke pulled Kenny back. "Back off Kenny. She said she doesn't want you to take the baby. Don't be weird about it, okay?"

"I haven't been acting weird."

"Yeah, you kind of have been, Kenny."

Clementine walked up to Kenny. "Kenny, you should listen to Luke. It's Rebecca's decision."

"I was just trying to help, Clem."

"Hello?!" A voice yelled out in the distance. The group looked on as they saw a figure in the distance.

"What the hell?" Nick muttered.

Nick soon recognized the figure as the man he had met on the observation deck, Arvo.

"That's Arvo."

"Arvo?" Bonnie asked, concerned.

"Yeah, Jane and I met her on the observation deck."

Luke looked at Nick in confusion. "Was this the kid that you stole from?"

Nick didn't answer and Luke took that as an affirmative. Kenny looked at Nick with concern.

"You should probably give him those pills back, Nick." Luke suggested.

Arvo approached the group with harmlessness. Kenny pulled out a handgun and placed it behind his back. As Arvo stopped, he recognized Nick, who had stolen from him.

"You are…?"

"Nick."

"Nick, I remember you, you stole from me, yes?"

Nick sighed. "Look, man, I can give them back to you. We only used a couple of the pills." Nick said as he looked at Kenny. Kenny sighed as he pulled out pills from his pocket and handed them to Arvo. Arvo looked down in regret as his group emerged from the woods holding the group at gunpoint.

"I told them, you people were the ones who robbed me."

Arvo's sister, Natasha stood next to Arvo and began to speak to him in Russian.

"It's funny to think that you stole from us." Arvo said towards Nick. "Now we want you and your friends to put down their weapons so we can take your things."

"But I only took the pills and I gave them back. Come on, man, don't do this."

Arvo looked around in confusion. "Where is the other woman?"

"I don't know, she just left us."

"It's a trap, I know it!"

Arvo continued to speak Russian to his group as Nick's group looked on in confusion. Luke raised his rifle at Arvo, which eventually led to a Mexican standoff, with Nick's group having a slight edge. Nick pointed his pistol at Arvo as well.

"This can be easy for you. All of you just put your guns down. This will be fine."

"Shut the fuck up, Arvo!" Nick yelled.

"I will not let them touch that baby!" Kenny yelled.

Suddenly, the baby began to cry as Clementine looked over to see Rebecca had died and had turned. Not knowing what to do, she cried out for help and Kenny shot Rebecca in order to end her suffering. Nick and Luke looked over in horror.

"NO!" Luke yelled.


	5. The attack

The Russian group fired on Nick's group, which led to them falling down. Nick hid behind a brick wall with Luke as they tried to fire on the Russian group. Kenny hid behind a tree, attempting to shoot one that he couldn't see. Nick saw the baby out in the open and saw Clementine crawling towards him.

"Ah! I'm hit!" Mike yelled out.

Nick watched as Mike was shot in the head shortly after as tumbled to the ground. Kenny noticed Mike's death and yelled in anger as he continued to shoot. Clementine grabbed the baby and hid behind the brick wall next to Nick. Kenny heard a shotgun and turned to look at a Russian pinning the rest of the group down. Kenny shot him in the head without hesitation. He noticed Luke crossing over to the other side.

"Hey, what're you-"

Kenny was cut off by Luke's yelling as he was shot in the leg.

"I told you not to come over here, man." Nick said, worried.

"I know, I regret my decision now."

Kenny, knowing this wasn't going anywhere, turned around to see Arvo trying to resuscitate his sister, but his attempts became futile as he was grabbed by Kenny.

"You get out here or I'll put a bullet in this kids head!" Kenny yelled, trying to keep Arvo under his control.

Nick noticed that as Kenny was trying to hold Arvo back, his sister began to re-animate. Arvo saw, but Kenny didn't. Just before Arvo's sister could bite Kenny, Nick shot her in the head. Arvo finally broke free of Kenny's grip and ran to his dead sister. Kenny ducked down for cover as he was shot at. The final Russian walked out into the road and aimed his rifle at Kenny, but before he could fire, there was a loud squishing sound as he turned around to see Jane staring at him with disbelief. He fell to his knees and was going to say something, but Kenny shot him in the head before he could say anything. Kenny walked away, still upset over Rebecca and Mike's death.

"Jesus Christ…that was, uh… that was intense." Luke stated.

"You're telling me, buddy. I thought that was it for us." Nick responded.

"It was for these assholes." Kenny intervened.

The group surrounded Rebecca and Mike's bodies. No one knew what to say about them.

"How could this happen?"

"I don't know, Nick. She just…turned. Just like that."

Kenny stared at Rebecca's body and closed his eyes in sadness.

"Now don't you go blamin' yourself, Kenny. You did what you hat to… to protect the boy." Bonnie said, trying to support Kenny.

"She just lost too much blood. It ain't nobody's fault." Luke interjected.

"She's with Alvin now." Clementine stated.

The rest of the group nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, Yeah she is." Bonnie agreed. "Don't worry, Becca… we'll take care of your boy… you rest easy."

Kenny closed his fist in anger and stomped over to Arvo.

"You piece of shit!" Kenny yelled as he started to beat Arvo.

"Hey, Hey!" Bonnie yelled at Kenny.

Nick and Luke pushed Kenny off of Arvo as Kenny drew his pistol.

"Get out of the way!" Kenny yelled, pointing the pistol at Nick.

"This isn't how we do things, man. Just put the gun down!" Nick yelled back.

Before Kenny could do anything rash, a young voice called out.

"He wasn't the one shooting at us, that guy's dead."

"Just because he don't have a gun doesn't mean he wouldn't have!" Kenny argued.

"Well, he didn't. So leave him alone, Kenny!"

Kenny sighed in frustration as Arvo began to speak.

"There is house, food… please. Please, I can take you."

"Bullshit!" Kenny yelled.

"No. No. Is true. We have place. Not far. Food." Arvo stuttered.

"See, he wants to help." Nick stated.

"Oh, don't be stupid. He's just tryin' to save his skin. Why the hell would you help us? Huh?" Kenny yelled at Arvo.

"I…I not want to see more people dead." Arvo pleaded.

"Then close your eyes and I'll make it quick."

"Hey! Back off, man!" Nick yelled once more.

"It's worth the risk to check this place out. Trust him, don't trust him, it doesn't matter. We should go anyway." Jane said to stop Kenny. "We just need to be careful. It can't be far from here."

Kenny turned back to Jane. "You stay out of this! You're the reason these fuckers came after us in the first place!"

"Lay off, Kenny. She just helped us." Luke yelled.

"Yeah, think about the baby, Kenny." Nick pleaded. "If what he's saying is true, we should go. We don't have much left. Think about it."

Kenny sighed and lowered his pistol. "We got somethin' to tie this shitbird up?"

"Yeah, I got somethin'" Bonnie said as she reached into her backpack.

"Follow me, I'll take you." Arvo said as Bonnie tied his wrists together.

"Just gimme a reason." Kenny said as he pulled out his pistol again.

"Yeah, man, he gets it." Nick spoke back.

The group walked down the path with Arvo leading them. Luke was leaning on Nick as Nick helped him to walk.

"You okay, man?"

"Yeah, thanks Nick."

"No problem. What're friends for?"

"Much more than this?"

"You just need to shut up, man." Nick joked.


	6. One tender moment

The group walked for quite a while, until Luke stumbled. Nick almost fell down with him, but managed to keep Luke on his feet.

"Hold up, guys." Nick said to the group. "We need to stop."

"No, it's okay Nick, I just put more weight on it than I should have."

Kenny turned to Arvo. "Alright, wait there."

Arvo continued to stumble forward, ignoring Kenny's order. Kenny looked back at Luke and then back at Arvo.

"Hey! What'd I just say?!" Kenny yelled as he forced Arvo to the ground. "When I tell you something, you fuckin listen, understand?"

Nick set Luke down on a log and looked at Kenny. Nick felt like saying something to defend Arvo, but didn't know what he could say that would break up the argument between the two.

Clementine walked up to Kenny. "Kenny, that's enough!"

Kenny sighed heavily and looked back at Arvo. "Just fucking stay put."

Bonnie walked over to Luke and placed a bandage on Luke's leg. She turned around to face Clementine who was by herself after Kenny walked away.

"Hey, Clem. I need your help for a minute."

Clementine walked over to Bonnie. "What is it?"

"I need you to hold this bandage." Bonnie said as Clementine took her place.

Bonnie looked at Nick. "So, Nick, you're gonna have to talk some sense into Kenny."

"Wait, what. Why me? Why can't Clem do it?" Nick said, shocked.

"Can't you see that she's a little busy at the moment?"

Nick sighed. "If he's not going to listen to her, how do you expect him to listen to me?!" Nick said, his voice raising.

"Nick, calm down, just do it, okay?" Luke said to Nick, calmly.

Nick sighed in frustration. "Fine."

Nick walked towards Kenny, but Bonnie stopped him. "Here, take the baby, hopefully that'll help."

"Uh…okay." Nick said as he grabbed the baby.

Nick sighed in preparation and walked over to Kenny, who was sitting down by himself.

"Leave me the fuck alone, boy." Kenny angrily spat at Nick.

"Hey, calm the fuck down, man."

"Calm down? How can you just calm down after what happened?"

Nick sighed. "Look, I understand your frustration, but you can't just beat people that didn't even intend to steal from us."

Kenny sighed. "Just give me the baby and I'll try to calm myself down, but I need to be left alone."

Nick didn't know what to do, but gave in and gave the baby to Kenny, who was already starting to become less angry.

"Thanks."

"Oh, by the way, my name's Nick, not boy."

"Yeah, sorry about that."

Nick nodded as he turned around and walked back over to Luke and Clementine. "How're you feeling, buddy?"

"Oh, just peachy."

"I saw you guys talking, what were you talking about?"

Luke sighed. "It's just, everyone we set out with, except us, are dead. Pete, Alvin and Becca, Carlos, Sarah, all gone."

Nick sighed as he relived the memories of all of their deaths. Nick didn't respond, instead he sat down next to Luke on the log and began to quietly cry. Luke knew what was going on and patted Nick on the shoulder.

"Pete didn't die in vain, Nick, I was with him." Clementine said to Nick, attempting to soothe him.

"I never asked you what his last words were. Can you tell me?" Nick said, saddened.

Clementine knew his last words were directed towards her, but she knew that he wanted to know if Pete said anything about him.

"He said…" Clementine paused. "He asked if I could keep an eye out for you and that despite you having a temper, he loved you as if you were his son."

Nick felt like breaking down when he heard what Clementine had said to him. Luke knew that Nick would eventually become a liability, but kept that thought in the back of his mind. _Not yet, Nick, not yet._ Bonnie walked over to the small trio.

"What happened? Are you okay, Nick?"

Nick didn't respond, instead his face was in his hands, silently crying.

"Bonnie, let's just give him some time." Luke said, saddened.

"Okay. Clem?"

"Yes?" Clem responded.

"Can you change the bandage on Kenny's wound? I offered, but I don't think he was comfortable with me doing it."

Clementine sighed in anticipation as she grabbed the Hydrogen Peroxide that Bonnie handed her and walked over to Kenny. Bonnie walked over to Luke and started wrapping his injury with a piece of cloth. Bonnie looked at Nick, who was still upset, and then back at Luke.

"Can you please tell me what's wrong?"

Luke sighed. "Even if I could, there's nothing you could do to help."

"Look, just tell me and I'll see if I can."

Nick was oblivious to their conversation as all he could think of were the bad times he had with his uncle Pete, instead of the good times, which were very few. He tried to remember the last time he had told Pete that he loved him. _Why did you have to die first? First my mother and now you?_ That was all Nick could think about as Bonnie sat next to Nick.

"It's okay, Nick. I'm very sure of it that Pete is in a better place." Bonnie said, patting his back lightly.

Nick was finally free from these thoughts as he sat up and hugged Bonnie. Bonnie was surprised as she didn't expect it. Bonnie hugged Nick back to try to comfort him. After Bonnie was finished, Luke gave him a hug as well.

"Don't worry, buddy. You still have us."

Nick sniffled. "You're right." Nick shook his head and breathed in heavily. He exhaled heavily and looked over at Clementine who was walking towards him. She patted him on the shoulder as he began to break down again.

"Shh, it's okay, Nick." Clementine said as Nick continued to cry.

Jane felt bad that she didn't walk over to Nick, but she really felt like it. She knew that if she did that, she would become soft and if something happened, Nick would take her down with him. Kenny looked over to see the sight, but looked back down at the baby. _What should I call you, little guy? Hold on, your dad's name was Alvin and since you're a boy, I'll call ya Alvin jr. I hope you'll like that name._ Nick let go of Clementine and looked at her with a sincere expression.

"I'm glad you're here, Clem."

Clementine smiled as she saw that Nick was smiling, the first time she had seen him smiling was when she had a tender moment with him back at the cabin. After she forgave him for almost shooting her, he told her about his mother's death. Fortunately, their relationship grew and grew throughout their adventures together. Kenny and Jane walked over to the group.

"All right, enough of that, we'd better get moving before that sun falls." Kenny said, still holding Alvin Jr.

Nick shook his head as he stood up and helped Luke to his feet. The group continued on their way as Clementine felt as if she had lifted someone off of suicide's door. She knew that was a ridiculous thing to think, but she couldn't help but feel relieved as she felt she saved someone's life, for once in a long time.

The group walked for a while, until they came across a power plant. The sun was beginning to set and Nick was beginning to feel cold as he didn't have anything warm on. All he had was a long sleeve shirt that was fairly thin. Luke noticed that Nick was beginning to shiver.

"Hey, Kenny. Maybe we should stop, it's getting awful dark and cold." Luke said, barely hanging on to Nick.

Kenny sighed angrily. "This is bullshit."

"Kenny, relax." Bonnie said to Kenny.

"Don't tell me to relax!" Kenny yelled.

Clementine walked over to Arvo. "Arvo, is this the place where the supplies are."

"No…it's at the house." Arvo stuttered once more. "Is still more walk. Some more hours."

"Goddammit! I knew this was going to happen. This guy fucked us!" Kenny yelled at the group, while pointing his pistol at Arvo. "He's lying. He's been lying this whole time."

"Kenny, come one man, we should stop."

"Stop fighting!" Clementine yelled, causing the group to stop. "Can we just have a calm and peaceful night?"

"Yeah, I agree." Nick spoke up.

Clementine's yells accidentally upset Alvin Jr. as he began to cry.

"Oh shit. Shh, it's all right buddy. Sorry about that." Kenny said as he shook the baby to comfort him, but he wouldn't calm down. "Here, see if you can calm him down." Kenny said as he handed the baby to Clementine.

Jane walked over to Kenny. "Hey, we're going to have to see if this place is secure, can you help me?"

"Yeah, Yeah." Kenny turned to the group. "We're going to scout this place out to make sure we aren't walking into a walker trap. We'll call you over in a minute."

"All right. Get moving." Bonnie said, anxious to get warm.

Alvin Jr. continued to cry in Clementine's arms as she didn't know what to do. She did what she thought would work, which would be shaking him lightly and trying to shush him. Alvin felt at peace as he looked up at Clementine in trust.

"You're a natural." Luke said as he chuckled.

"I think he likes you." Bonnie said as she walked over to Clementine.

"I like him. He's cute."

"Yeah, usually they look like weird alien things." Nick said, chuckling.

The group looked to see Jane and Kenny walking over to them.

"Come on over, it's safe!" Kenny yelled.

Nick helped Luke to his feet again as he led Luke down the hill and into the power station with the rest of the group following.

A couple of hours later, the sky was completely dark and the only thing that lit the darkness was a small fire that the group had started. They sat around the campfire, thinking about their past lives. Kenny held Alvin close, to try to keep him warm. Clementine sat across from Bonnie, who was sitting on a box. Luke was sitting next to Clementine, leaning against a wall. Jane and Nick were standing outside, just observing the wilderness around them.

"Today's my birthday." Luke suddenly spoke up, trying to lure Nick over.

"Well, happy birthday Luke." Clementine said to Luke.

"Yeah, happy birthday." Bonnie agreed. "So that makes you , what, 27?"

"Yeah, I'm surprised you remembered. Sure as hell feel a lot older."

"Don't you even get started on that shit." Kenny said in a joking manner.

Luke chuckled as he looked back over at Nick, who had ignored the small conversation. Luke sighed as he looked at the fire.

"I got out of college five years ago. It feel s like a million years."

"What did you study?" Clementine asked, out of curiosity.

"Majored in art history." Luke answered.

"Sounds like you majored in working in a coffee shop." Kenny joked again.

"Did get a minor in agriculture. Kept the old man happy." Luke said as he looked at Nick and then back at the fire.

"Oh, I almost forgot." Bonnie said as she pulled a bottle of rum out of her backpack. "Was savin it for a special occasion and…well…seeing as how it's your birthday and all. Figure this is a good time as any."

Clementine observed the drink, but knew how Kenny would react if she asked for a sip of the drink. She remained silent as Bonnie handed the bottle to Luke.

"You know, I feel bad taking the first sip…" Luke started.

"Whoa, wait. You've gotta make a toast." Bonnie stopped him.

Luke looked at Bonnie with confusion. "Come on birthday boy, it don't have to be fancy. We can pass the bottle around afterwards, go on."

Luke cleared his throat as he looked back at Nick and raised his voice to try to lure Nick over once more. "To the loved ones that we lost along the way and to the hope that we see them again…someday."

Kenny sighed as he stood up with Alvin. "Well, I've got first watch."

"Come on, Kenny. Stay a little longer." Clementine begged.

"Nah, it's fine. You stay warm. I'm gonna post over by the hole in the fence, holler if you need anything."

"Thanks Kenny." Bonnie said as Kenny walked away.

Bonnie looked at Jane who was standing next to the fence as well. "There's plenty of room!"

Jane looked back, but didn't respond as she turned back around to face the wilderness once again.

Bonnie sighed. "I didn't expect her to come back. Just as I thought I had her figured out, she up and surprises."

"We're lucky to have her." Clementine said, smiling.

"Well, she helped us back there. That puts her as okay in my book." Luke spoke up.

"Well it ain't no secret how you feel about her." Bonnie responded.

Luke looked at the fire in regret as he knew that his mistake led to Sarah's death.

"Ah come on, I'm just teasin'" Bonnie chuckled.

"It was stupid."

"I understand, she's a pretty girl. Once you get past the dirt and guts."

"I don't know… I guess I just… wanted to forget about all this shit for like, ten minutes."

"Hey!"

"All right, it wasn't ten minutes."

"Luke, shush. We have a little one around."

"I know what you guys are talking about." Clementine said, concerned.

"I certainly hope not." Bonnie chuckled.

"You're talking about kissing stuff."

Luke thought for a moment. "Yeah! Yes, Yes, that… that is exactly it."

Clementine cringed as he chuckled at her reaction. Bonnie stood up and walked over to Clementine. "Hey Clem, can you try to see if you can get Nick, Jane, and Kenny back over by the fire? Oh, and here, maybe a swig of this will change their mind?" Bonnie said as she handed Clementine the bottle of rum.

"Sure, I'll see what I can do."

Bonnie smiled as sat back down on her box. Clementine looked at Jane and then towards Nick, who she could tell was shivering. Clementine's smile frowned as she walked over to Nick.

"Hey Nick."

Nick looked over at Clementine. "Hey, Clem."

Clementine handed Nick the bottle and without hesitation, Nick grabbed the bottle and drank a little. "Thanks Clem."

"Why are you out here?"

"I just can't stop thinking about Pete and what he told you. I just feel as if I've lost everything and everyone."

Nick was then hit with an unexpected hug from Clementine. This brought Nick's feelings out into the open as he began to cry once more.

"It's okay, Nick. Don't be embarrassed."

"I'm not, Clem, I just, I feel as if hope comes back when you hug me."

Clem's grip on Nick tightened as they hugged for about 30 seconds. As Clementine hugged Nick, she noticed that he felt like an ice cube. Nick looked over at Luke who noticed what had happened and smiled at him. Nick exhaled heavily as looked at Clem.

"Thanks Clem, for the alcohol."

Clementine smiled as she knew Nick forgot about the hug. Nick walked over to the fire and sat down next to Luke. She looked at Kenny and Jane and then back to the bottle of alcohol. _Two more to go._

Eventually, she managed to get Kenny and Jane over by the fire. Clementine handed the bottle to Nick, who was surprised.

"Come on, Nick, say a toast."

"I'm not really the toasting kind of guy."

Luke patted Nick on the back. "Come on, buddy, you can do it."

Nick sighed, fueled with courage. "This is to my uncle Pete. Even though he felt like an asshole from time to time, I miss that son of a bitch." Nick said as he took a sip from the bottle. Nick heard Arvo crying and looked over at Arvo. "There's someone else who needs a drink."

"Sounds like a waste of good rum." Kenny sneered at Nick.

Nick didn't respond as he walked over to Arvo with the bottle of alcohol. He tried to give Arvo a drink, but Arvo lunged out and bit Nick on his arm. Nick screamed in pain as the rest of the group, except Luke, ran over to him.

"What happened?!" Bonnie yelled.

"This son of a bitch bit me." Nick yelled in pain. He looked back at Arvo and punched him in the face. He angrily stomped off with the bottle of rum and sat back down next to Luke. The group followed Nick back, but in shock.

"Are you okay, buddy?"

"No! Why the hell did he bite me?"

Clementine hesitated. "You did kill his sister, Nick."

"In self-defense. Even he should know that."

"Nick, was it deep?"

"No, it just hurts like hell."

Clementine sighed. "Let's just try to forget about it, okay?"

Nick sighed as he shook his head. "Yeah, okay."

Kenny stood up. "I'll take first watch."

"Thanks Kenny, really." Bonnie said with sincerity.

Kenny could feel her sincere voice. "I…don't mention it." Kenny said before he walked back to his post.

Bonnie sighed as she looked at Clementine. "It's okay, Clem, it was nice while it lasted."


	7. The betrayal

The next morning, the group continued on their way to the cabin that Arvo claimed had food. Kenny, becoming irritated, struggled to hold the gun on Arvo. Nick was holding Alvin Jr. as Luke didn't need his help to walk. Clementine and Bonnie walked behind Kenny, skeptical of what he was going to do to Arvo. Jane was by herself once more as she didn't want to seem soft to the rest of the group. Nick turned back to Luke.

"You sure you can keep going, man?" Nick asked, concerned.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm good. If I start to crap out, I'll let you know."

Nick nodded as he turned around to follow the group once more. Kenny began to grow even more irritated as he jabbed the pistol into Arvo's back.

"How much farther?" Kenny demanded.

"Close. Very close." Arvo responded.

"You've been saying that every time I ask." Kenny said, his voice clearly raising.

"Please, come." Arvo said, desperate for safety.

"I'm really startin to think…" Kenny started.

"Kenny! Watch out!" Clementine yelled.

Before Kenny could comprehend what was going on, a walker appeared from behind a big rock and tackled Kenny to the ground. Kenny yelled in surprise as he fought to keep the walker's hands and mouth away from him. Clementine pulled out her pistol and shot the walker before it bit into Kenny's chest.

"Jesus Christ!" Kenny gasped, pushing the walker off of him.

"That was close." Nick said, walking up to him.

"Fucker came outta nowhere!" Kenny yelled.

Bonnie walked up to Kenny and observed the recently killed walker. "That was real loud. Hopefully, there aren't more of them."

"Yeah, well, let's move. We don't want to be around to find out." Jane said, walking past Bonnie.

"Is very close. Come."

Kenny stared at Arvo with hatred as Arvo continued to lead the way. The group followed Kenny for a couple more minutes before they came across a frozen lake. Arvo turned his head and looked at an all too familiar cabin.

"There." Arvo stated, looking at the cabin.

"That piece of shit?! It's half built!" Kenny yelled in frustration.

The group looked on as they saw that, in a strange way, they found themselves agreeing with Kenny.

"We're here for the supplies. Not the house." Jane said, trying to keep a level head.

"As long as there's food, who cares what it looks like?" Clementine stated, trying to stay positive.

"You're not gonna think that when you wake up with a couple inches of snow covering you." Kenny said, crushing Clementine's hopes once again.

"Wait, are we just gonna walk over?" Nick asked.

The group didn't answer Nick as they searched around the lake to see if there was an alternate path. From what the group could see, the only way they could make it to the cabin was by crossing the frozen lake.

"It seems that that's the case, Nick." Luke said, frustrated.

Arvo began to speak Russian to the group until Kenny stopped him.

"Say it in American, asshole." Kenny said, irritated.

"Is okay. Walk. Ice." Arvo said as he tried to speak the best English he could.

"No shit, ice. That's the problem."

"If we spread out, we should be okay." Clementine spoke up.

"She's right. We need to spread out. Just to be safe." Jane agreed.

Kenny sighed in frustration. "Let the Ruskie go first… since he's so confident."

"Is okay." Arvo said as he began to walk on the ice.

The group slowly followed Kenny and Arvo as they began to cross the lake. After making it a quarter of the way, walkers began to approach the group from behind them. Nick looked back and wanted to walk faster, but knew he would endanger Alvin if he did that. Nick looked back again to see that Luke was beginning to fall behind.

"Hey, Luke. Hurry up, man."

"Don't worry about me, Nick."

Nick looked in front of him and accidentally ran into Clementine. Clementine looked up at him in frustration as she continued to walk.

"Sorry Clem."

"It's fine. Let's just get to the cabin."

Nick nodded as he continued to walk, still shocked by the walkers behind them. A couple of walkers began to walk across the lake, but due to their combined weight, they fell through. The group looked back in surprise. Kenny looked back at the hole the walkers made when they fell through the ice. Arvo took this opportunity to try to run from Kenny.

"Hey! Get back here!" Kenny yelled, running after Arvo.

Nick wanted, so badly, to help Arvo, but he didn't know if he should or not. _Is Kenny right on this? He did get Mike and Rebecca killed, so, I suppose so._ Kenny ultimately caught Arvo as they both made it to the other side. Kenny looked back to see that Luke was in trouble. Clementine and Bonnie turned around and saw that Luke was standing on thin ice as it began to crack all around him. He stood still in fear and looked up at Clementine. Bonnie began to walk over to Luke, but he stopped her.

"Don't come over here." Luke ordered. "Okay, I can make it, it's fine."

"You got walkers on the way, let me help you." Bonnie said, trying to get to Luke.

"It's too thin for both of us, I just… I just gotta be careful." Luke said as he took a step.

Luke's leg fell through the ice and he began to shiver. Clementine and Bonnie ran towards him, but he looked up and stopped them.

"Stop! Stop!" Luke yelled at both of them.

Nick made his way to Clementine's side after giving the baby to Jane, who reluctantly took him.\

"Luke, you need help." Nick yelled.

"Nick, shut the fuck up for once, I can get out, I just need a little time."

Nick looked at Clementine. "You've gotta help him. You're light, you can do it, Clem."

Clementine looked up at him and then back at Luke. "Nick, shut. The. Fuck. Up. Clem! Look at me. Pull out your gun and shoot these damn walkers, okay, just give me a little time."

Due to Nick and Bonnie's desperate pleas, she tried to make her way over to Luke.

"Clementine, stop!" Kenny yelled across the lake.

Clementine was a few feet away from Luke and she started to reach her hand out to him.

"Just go back. Please…" Luke begged.

"I've got you." Clem said, reaching her hand out to him. "It's gonna be all right."

Before Clem could grab Luke's hand, she fell through a very thin part of the ice. Nick and Bonnie looked on in shock as Clementine and Luke had disappeared from below the water's surface. Nick heard banging and ran over to see Clementine banging on the ice, trying to find the entrance hole. Nick pulled out his pistol and began to desperately swing at the ice.

"Nick! Stop!" Jane yelled.

Nick didn't listen and instead broke the ice. He nearly fell in, but managed to catch himself. He pulled Clementine out and she was shivering. Jane grabbed Clementine and ran back to the cabin, holding her. Nick looked in the water to see Luke swimming to him. Luke saw Nick and swam up to him, barely escaping a walker's grasp. Nick pulled Luke out of the water. Luke coughed as he had almost drowned.

"Luke, come on."

Luke barely stood to his feet as he followed Nick back to the cabin. They both entered the cabin to see Jane desperately trying to get a fire started for Clementine. Luke sat down next to her and shivered rapidly. Kenny paced back in forth, grunting in anger.

"You son of a bitch!" Kenny yelled at Arvo. "You almost got Luke killed and you were fuckin' lying about the food? What?! No speaka da English?!"

Arvo looked Kenny in the eyes. "Fuck you."

"You fuckin' Commie piece of shit!" Kenny yelled, once again fueled with anger.

Clementine ran to try to stop Kenny, but he accidentally hit her in the chin, while trying to punch Arvo. He looked back at Clem with sadness as he never thought he would hurt her.

"Just stop." Clementine pleaded.

Kenny let up as he didn't expect to do this to Clementine. Jane saw that there were two bags of supplies, next to the fireplace, and searched them. They were filled with food.

"There's another just like it. He wasn't lying." Jane said, getting Kenny to stop.

Kenny picked up a can from the supply bag and turned around to face Jane. "You wanna tell me how a can of fuckin' chili is gonna help a baby?"

"How is beatin' a kid to death gonna help?" Luke spoke up.

Kenny stared at Luke out of anger. "This is your fault, and you damn well know it."

Kenny shrugged off Luke's response and turned around to face Arvo. "I'm tyin' him up."

"Fine." Jane said, frustrated. "Nick, I need your help."

Nick didn't answer, instead he stood, shocked at what happened to Arvo, Luke, and Clementine.

"Nick!"

Nick shook out of his daydream and turned around. "Yeah?"

"Help me with this."

"Yeah, sorry."

Nick set up the logs, just like his uncle Pete taught him and Jane used a flint to light the wood on fire. Luke and Clementine sat next to the fireplace, thankful for Jane's unique skills. After Kenny tied Arvo up, he sat down with his back facing a barrel. Clementine fell asleep next to the fire, along with Luke. Nick sat next to Bonnie on a bench next to the fireplace.

A few hours later, Clementine woke up to see Luke looking at Arvo's injuries.

"Damn, he messed you up good." Luke said, observing Arvo's wounds. "The fuck is wrong with him?"

"Oh, you're up." Jane said as she noticed Clementine move. "Kenny and Nick are out back, trying to get some stupid truck started. Here, you should eat something." Jane said as she handed Clementine a can of chili.

"I'm gonna find somethin' to clean that up, okay?" Luke said, trying to comfort Arvo.

"Thank you."

Luke stood up and turned around to see Clementine. He waved at her, before he took off trying to find some disinfectant. Clementine could barely hear the word he uttered next.

"I can't take this shit anymore."

Clementine looked to see Kenny and Nick walk in. "Hey, Clem. You feelin' any better."

"Yes, thanks Kenny."

"If you're feelin' up to it. Nick and I could use a hand out back with this truck."

"Yeah, sure Kenny."

Kenny nodded as he turned around to walk back outside. Clementine put on her jacket and followed him outside to see Nick working on something underneath the hood.

"How's it comin', Nick?"

"I did what I could."

"Which was?"

"You told me to try warming up the battery, but, I don't know how to do that."

"Dammit, Nick. If you didn't know, why did you bother to help?"

"I want to do something. I've been pushed off to the side, I want to do something."

"Yeah? Well, you can help by letting Clem and I do this by ourselves, thank you."

"Come on, Kenny. Let him help, please?" Clementine spoke up.

Kenny sighed. "Fine, but let me under the hood."

Kenny took Nick's place as Nick sat in the driver's seat. Clem watched as Kenny tried fixing something. "Alright, Nick. Try startin' it."

Nick turned the key, but nothing happened.

"Did you turn it?"

"Yeah."

Kenny sighed once more and looked at Clementine. "Wellington's out there somewhere, Clem."

Clementine looked inside the truck to see a mexico postcard. "What about mexico?"

"Why? You want a taco?" Kenny joked.

"I've never been there."

"That would be nice, wouldn't it." Nick spoke up.

"I went once, long time ago, just before I met Kat." Kenny said, remembering portions of his past life.

"Alright, turn it again, Nick."

Nick turned the key and the truck started up. Kenny laughed in victory as Nick turned the truck off. The rest of the group walked outside to witness the working truck.

"So, this thing really works?" Luke asked, anxious.

"It seems like it." Kenny said, still happy.

"So, what's the plan?" Nick asked.

"We need to find a place for the baby." Clementine stated.

"Yeah. Someplace warm." Luke agreed.

"We should head back south." Jane said, contradicting Kenny's plans.

"What?" Kenny said in shock.

"Yeah, we should head back to Howe's. I don't know whose idea it was to march up here in the first place, but it was a bad one."

Luke looked down in sadness as he realized he was the one that started the journey. Jane looked at Luke and then back at Kenny. "You know what, I agree with Jane. It was a stupid idea to escape."

Nick looked at Luke in shock. "What the fuck, man?"

"Nick, think about it. Do you really believe that Wellington's out there?"

"Yeah, I do. If we turn back, then everyone's death would have been for nothing."

"I know, but you have to realize the situation right now. What's the best option?"

"Both of you, shut the hell up!" Bonnie yelled, breaking up the argument.

"Well, it doesn't matter. I got this truck workin' and I say where we go. We're headed fuckin' north, right Clem?"

Clem shook her head to Kenny's satisfaction. Luke looked at Clem with a look he would have never expected. It was one with shock and anger.

"Right now, I'm not going anywhere in the middle of the night." Jane said, tired.

"I agree."

Kenny stared at Luke in anger. "You want that child's blood on your hands, Luke."

"No, but you need to calm the fuck down! Haven't we been through enough for one day?!"

Kenny shook his head in anger. "Jesus fucking Christ. Remember the last time we had a workin' car and sat around on our asses, Clem?"

"I'm going inside." Jane said, turning around to walk back inside with Luke and Bonnie following her.

Kenny, out of anger, kicked the truck multiple times with his boot, shouting dammit with each kick. Nick, for once in his life, stood up for himself as he pushed Kenny against the truck.

"Calm the fuck down, Kenny. Please, for Clementine's sake."

Once Kenny heard the name Clementine, he realized that Nick was right. He stopped fighting and sighed.

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine, let's just get some sleep, okay?"

Kenny shook his head as Nick helped him inside. Clementine followed them inside and walked back in front of the fireplace and fell quickly asleep.

Due to Nick's paranoid nature, he woke up quickly when he heard footsteps. He looked to see Clementine walking to the back door. He stood up and walked over to her. He stopped her before she walked outside.

"What's going on?"

"I heard something outside and I can't find Luke."

Before Nick could respond, he heard voices over by the truck. "Get behind me, Clem."

Clem did so as Nick pulled out his pistol. He pointed it at the source of the voices. Nick's fear began to grab at him, but he forced it down. He spoke up.

"What's going on?"

One of the men grabbed a rifle and pointed it at him. It was Arvo. _I knew we couldn't trust that fucker._ The other man was none other than Luke. Nick looked in shock as he saw the bag that Luke was holding.

"Luke?!"

"Nick, oh shit. Listen, we need to get away from Kenny, okay? He's too dangerous to be around."

"No he isn't."

"Maybe not to you, but he's a danger to the group, to us all, even Clementine."

Nick looked at the bag. "That's everything we have. What the hell, man?"

Nick heard a voice behind him. "I got the rest of it." He recognized it as Bonnie, holding the other bag of supplies. He was in even more shock to see her. "Nick?"

Luke sighed. "Alright, Nick." Luke dropped his bag of supplies and slowly moved towards Nick. Nick threated Luke by cocking the gun. Luke wasn't afraid as he knew that Nick wouldn't shoot him. Clementine witnessed what was going on and walked over to Nick. Out of fear, Arvo shot her, but only in the shoulder. Luke and Nick looked on in shock. Arvo ran off, while Nick and kneeled down to Clementine.

"Clem? Can you hear me?"

Bonnie ran away as soon as he saw Kenny and Jane emerge from the house. He chased after Arvo, and Bonnie shouting threats, while Jane helped Nick get Clementine into the truck. Kenny came back after chasing Bonnie and Arvo into the wilderness. Kenny turned the truck on to get it warm for Clementine. Kenny grabbed Luke and pushed him against the truck.

"Luke, what the fuck happened?!"

"Arvo shot Clementine after she walked outside. Trust me, I wouldn't hurt Clem either. If I did, I would probably run too."

Kenny sighed in anger. "Just get in the truck. We're movin' out."

Nick and Luke sat in the backseat of the truck, while Jane sat in the passenger seat. Kenny sat in the driver seat and put the truck in drive. He looked at Clementine asleep in the backseat and sighed in relief, before he started driving in an attempt to find Wellington.

 **P.S. I didn't expect to put Luke in Mike's spot, but I did it to show that Nick's friendship with Luke with be forever tainted.**


	8. Kenny vs Luke

_After all of these years of sticking up for Luke, every time something would happen, I would be by Luke's side. Now, he tries to leave the group, leaving a baby and a little girl behind. What kind of a person is he now? Maybe I'll know, maybe I'll never know, but there's one thing that I'll know for the rest of my life, Luke will never be the same person that I once knew in elementary school._

Kenny drove down the snowy road, continuing to look in the rear view mirror at Luke. Nick was holding Alvin Jr. and Jane was sitting staring outside.

"Hey, can you stop looking at me, please?" Luke asked.

"No, you tried stealing this vehicle and I'm not letting you out of my sights." Kenny spat.

"I didn't think about the baby or Clem at that time, so please stop doing this."

"No, how do I know you're not just going to steal this truck when I turn my fucking back!"

"Shut up, Kenny!" Jane spoke up.

"Oh, you're telling me to shut up now? You were the one that left the group and had those Russians come after us. This whole problem is your fucking fault."

"I saved your ass."

"Yeah, but you led those Russians to us, I'm not going to just throw that away.

"You know what, Kenny? You're just a bomb waiting to go off. Everyone talks behind your back because they're afraid of you."

Kenny glared at her. "That ain't true."

"Mike, Bonnie, Sarita."

"You fuckin' liar, that ain't true."

"Hey Kenny, keep your eyes on the road, man." Nick spoke up.

Kenny ignored him. "Everyone around you knows that sooner or later they're going to end up dead. Sarita knew it, I know it, and so does Clementine!"

"Shut the fuck up about my family."

"Oh, she's your family now?"

Kenny slammed on the brakes, having Jane hit her head on the dashboard.

"Kenny?! What the fuck, man?" Nick yelled.

"You get the fuck out of this truck, right FUCKING now!" Kenny ordered.

Jane didn't respond. She opened the door and exited the truck, slamming the door as hard as she could. Kenny sped off before he had a chance to change his mind.

"Kenny? What're you doing?" Luke asked, saddened.

"Leavin' her to fend for herself."

Luke climbed into the passenger seat in order to give Clementine room in the backseat, as she had been cooped up in there ever since the previous night. Nick looked over at Clementine who was still unconscious. _Come on, Clem. Wake up._ Kenny couldn't see very far in front of him and stopped just before he hit a car.

"Nick, is Alvin ok?" Kenny asked, worried.

"Yeah, he's fine."

"Are you sure?"

"He's fine, man."

Kenny sighed as he looked back at the road to see that it was covered with cars. Kenny hit his head on the steering wheel and then looked back at the road.

"You guys wait here, I'm gonna check to see if any of those trucks have diesel."

"I'll come with you." Nick said, anxious to help.

"No, you keep that baby safe. If anything happens, I'll try to meet you there." Kenny said, pointing at a rest stop sign.

Kenny exited the truck and began to walk over to the trucks to try to siphon gas.

"What a fucking jerk." Luke said out loud.

Nick stared at him, still filled with anger at what Luke had done. Luke looked back at Nick to see that stare.

"Nick, come on, don't look at me like that."

Nick didn't answer, instead, he continued to stare Luke down.

"Nick, I'm sorry, ok?"

Nick sighed. "We were friends ever since elementary school. I thought I knew who you were, but it turns out I was wrong my entire life."

"Nick. It was in the heat of the moment, ok? I didn't want to do it, I… I just wanted to use that opportunity and I swear to you, I would have woken you up, okay? Listen to me, I'm sorry, ok?"

Before Nick could respond, they heard gunshots. Luke jumped into the driver's seat and put the truck into drive.

"Luke, what're you doing?"

"Leaving."

"We're not leaving Kenny!"

Luke didn't respond as he attempted to drive through the car pileup. Unfortunately, he didn't get very far and the truck crashed due to the conditions. Luke did something else he never thought he would do, he left Nick, AJ, and an unconscious Clementine inside the truck. He ran off in the direction of the rest stop. Nick knew he had to stop Luke before he made it to the truck stop, but he couldn't just leave Clementine and AJ behind. Nick shook Clementine as hard as he could, but she wouldn't wake up. Nick knew that he had to choose between Clementine and AJ as he couldn't carry both of them. Nick made a painful decision, one that hurt him more than learning about his uncle's death. He grabbed Clementine, but before he carried her out, she woke up. She yawned as she looked at Nick. She then noticed the fear in his eyes.

"What's wrong?!"

"Luke and Kenny are going to a rest stop, but we need to go now!"

"What about Alvin?"

"Grab him!" Nick ordered.

Clementine grabbed Alvin, who was beginning to cry due to the extreme cold and the crash.

"Stay behind me, Clem."

Nick pulled out his pistol and headed in the direction of the rest stop. After a couple minutes of walking, Nick began to feel cold and almost fell to his knees, until Clementine caught him. _I'm freezing to death and she's just fine. Hmph, story of my life._

"It's okay, Nick. I've got you."

Nick coughed. "You might have to leave me, kid."

"No, come on, walk a little further. It's right there."

Nick looked up to see that Clementine was right. The rest stop was close. This encouraged him to continue walking. They were a couple of feet from the door, before the door busted open. Kenny was missing his hat and bandage and Luke was carrying his machete. Nick wanted to intervene, but was too shocked to do so. Kenny charged at Luke, who quickly countered with a swing from his machete. The swing cut Kenny's cheek, near his eye. Kenny screamed in pain as Luke jumped on top of him, trying to plunge the machete into Kenny's chest. Nick pulled out his pistol and aimed it at Luke. _I can't. We've been friends ever since elementary school._ Nick was hesitant, but inevitably pulled the trigger, shooting Luke in the head, finally killing him. Nick couldn't believe what he had done. He dropped the pistol and began to cry, loud enough for Clementine and Kenny to hear. Kenny didn't care anymore as he had thought that Alvin had died. Alvin Jr. was crying in Nick's arms due to the gunshot. Kenny sat up, ecstatic at hearing Alvin's cries. Kenny walked up Nick, who was now standing up.

"AJ! Let me see him."

Nick handed Alvin to Kenny, who began to hug the baby with extreme passion. "I thought I lost you buddy, I'm never letting you out of my sights again."

Kenny looked at Nick and then back at Luke. "Look, Nick, I understand your pain and I know that you had to shoot your best friend. I'm sorry."

Nick didn't answer, instead he just started to sob at the sight of his friends body. Clementine walked up to him and gave him a hug similar to the one she had given him at the power station. Nick hugged Clementine back as he cried. It was so cold that the teardrops actually froze to his face afterwards. After a couple minutes of hugging, Clementine smiled at Nick, showing that they would be okay.

"What next, Kenny?" Clementine asked.

Kenny smiled. "We find Wellington."


	9. The last leg

Nine days later, Clementine was standing on a hill looking at smoke coming from behind it. She turned around to see Kenny holding Alvin and Nick folding his arms, because of the cold.

"It's just a little further. We're almost there." Clementine said with a smile

"Oh, I sure hope that's a cook fire, we could use a hot meal right about now. Could be all I need." Kenny responded

"You're telling me, old man." Nick joked.

Kenny looked at Nick and then back at Clementine. "Come on, I'll race you guys to the top."

Kenny began to laugh as he ran up the hill, with Nick and Clementine close behind him. Kenny made it to the top of the hill and stopped. Nick followed closely behind him and stopped in the same manner. Once Clementine made it to the top of the hill, she realized what they had been staring at. They were staring at a very large and very long wall that went on for what appeared to be miles.

"Holy shit. We did it, guys!" Nick said with a smile.

"You're tellin' me." Kenny responded.

Kenny looked at Clementine and Nick. "What're we waiting for? Come on."

Kenny walked forward with Nick and Clementine right behind him. "This one's going to be the one. Look at those walls. We'll finally feel safe. Be able to sleep at night." Kenny said before he was stopped.

A gunshot ran out and the group froze in their tracks.

"That's far enough!" a loud voice bellowed out. "Drop your weapons."

Kenny looked at Nick and Clementine, who dropped both of their weapons. Nick remembered back to the time when Clementine had introduced him to Kenny. _His friend just wanted me to drop my weapon and I refused like that? How much more of an asshole could I've been._

"Approach the gate!" The voice yelled out again.

Nick, Clementine, and Kenny walked to the front gates to see a woman wearing earmuffs and holding a rifle.

"Hi, I'm Edith." The woman said.

"Name's Kenny. This here's Clementine and Nick."

"Hello. Is that a baby? What's his name?"

"Alvin… Jr." Kenny responded, suspicious.

"Is someone named Christa in there?" Clementine asked.

"I have a cousin named Christa, what did she look like?"

"She looked African American-"

"I'm going to stop you there, she's not in here."

Clementine's hopes had been crushed once more. She felt like crying, but didn't because she needed to get inside before she let her true feelings out, very much like Nick.

"So, this is Wellington, right?" Kenny asked.

"A lot of people call it that."

"Okay. So what do we do to get in?" Kenny asked, becoming desperate.

"Well, this is the part where I give you the bad news."

Kenny's face drained of colour as Edith dropped a supply bag from her post. Even though he knew what it was, he couldn't believe it.

"What is this?" Nick asked for Kenny.

"That's some supplies to help you out there."

"Yeah, but why are you giving this to us?"

Edith sighed. "Unfortunately, our community isn't accepting new members. We're over capacity as it is and there's… just… not enough to go around if we keep letting people in. Things might change in a few months-"

"You've gotta be fucking kidding."

"I'm sorry, but I'm not."

Nick sighed in frustration.

"Just take them." Kenny pleaded.

"What?" Clementine said, shocked.

"Just take the others, I can survive out here on my own, but I need them to be safe and it's safe in there, I know that. Can you just ask someone, please? They can't make it out here, please?!" Kenny pleaded.

Edith shook her head in sadness. "I'll… I'll ask. Just give me a second."

Kenny put his hand on his eyes in frustration. He could feel Nick and Clementine giving him a stare.

"You guys don't need to look at me like that, this is for the best."

"We're not staying here without you." Clementine said, tears beginning to flow.

"Yes you are."

"No, we're not."

"YES, YOU ARE!" Kenny yelled.

Clementine stopped talking after hearing what Kenny said. Edith came out and looked down at the group in pity.

"What the fuck's wrong now?!" Nick yelled.

"We can't let anyone in, I'm sorry."

Kenny fell to his knees, feeling defeated. He looked up at Edith. "Do you know what it took for us to get here? Do you know how many people we've lost trying to get here?"

"I know how you feel. Other people had the same problem, but we had to turn them away regardless of age."

Edith felt as if she was sentencing them to death, along with a baby. Out of compassion, she grabbed a second bag and dropped it onto the ground.

"I'm only supposed to hand out one per group, but if you're in the area, check back in a few months; hopefully we'll be accepting people then."

Nick realized that he had been very rude and she just helped them. "Thanks and sorry about what I said."

"Don't worry, I know how shitty a situation this is. You all stay safe out there."

Nick nodded as Edith walked off. Kenny stood up and looked at Clementine, who was still crying. He gave her Alvin and grabbed a supply bag along with Nick. Kenny looked at Clementine and smiled. Nick looked at Clementine with sadness. _Oh what the hell? No one else is looking._ Nick dropped the bag and knelt down to Clementine's height. He gave her a hug with Alvin in between. This time, she was crying into Nick's shoulder, instead of him crying into hers.

"It'll be alright, Clem. Let's go."

Clementine shook her head as Nick turned around to grab the supply bag. Kenny touched Nick's shoulder and looked him in the eye.

"If I die, I trust you with her, you understand? Don't let anything bad happen to her." Kenny said, desperate.

"I promise you, I won't let anything happen."

Kenny nodded as he grabbed his supply bag. The trio walked away from Wellington and into the great unknown, hoping that one day, Wellington will let them come inside.

 **P.S. Whew, that was a long process, but I'm finally finished. To whomever is reading this, there will be a sequel in the future. It will focus on the two year period between Season 2 and Season 3, except Nick will be in it. Also, I apologize for the rushed ending, I just couldn't think of another way they could leave, except 'steal' the ending to Season 2 with Kenny.**


	10. Random QA

Why make the story at all?

Answer. I always wanted to see what would happen if Nick survived.

Why did Luke attack Kenny?

Answer. Because he was sick of Kenny's attitude and believed he was a threat.

Why did Luke leave Clementine and Nick inside the truck with Alvin?

Answer. He was too focused on killing Kenny to focus on them.

Why did Nick kill his best friend?

Answer. This was supposed to represent Nick finally getting the courage that he desperately needed throughout the season

What happened to Jane?

Answer. I don't know.

How did I come up with the idea?

Answer. I was pissed off about the death of Kenny and wondered what the story would be like if other characters survived. I was drawn to Nick's survival for an unknown reason.

Why didn't Arvo shoot Nick?

Answer. He was scared when Clementine came outside, so he shot her instead of Nick.

Why doesn't Wellington let them in?

Answer. You'll find out.

Why is Nick more emotional than he should be?

Answer. It's to show that Nick is very vulnerable when on the topic of his own family. After Luke's betrayal, Nick is saddened and can't throw the thought away. Clementine comforts him until he can continue on.

Why didn't Clementine's choices matter in this case?

Answer. Because Nick inspires the people around her to make the choices shown in the walking dead. Nick accidentally gets Mike and Sarah killed, despite trying to help the group.

Conclusion: This was a random Q/A session that I kept asking myself and I knew other people would ask when they read this


End file.
